Sun, Aug 20th 2023
According to top diplomat Thomas Greminger, Switzerland can discreetly promote dialogue between Russia and Ukraine.
Stability in Europe can only exist with and not against Russia, as he said in an interview with “NZZ am Sonntag”.
Switzerland can do a lot behind the scenes, Greminger said in an interview published on Sunday. He directs the largely federally funded Center for Security Policy in Geneva. He does not see Switzerland as an official mediator. The parties to the conflict “do not want any mediators of the classic type”.
The centre worked, for example, on the question of what status and what security guarantees Ukraine should have in the future. “And we made sure that both warring parties knew about these proposals,” he said. They have not yet come to any politically relevant results.
It would be advantageous for the international community and for Switzerland if Switzerland remained neutral. Russian interlocutors would also value Geneva as a location. They are much more pragmatic than the official position suggests, said Greminger.
In his opinion, Switzerland should do more in the humanitarian area and in reconstruction. She should also be generous when it comes to taking in Ukrainian refugees.
Temporary cession of territory
According to him, there is no end to the war in sight. “The most likely scenario is the continuation of a long, intense war like the one we are currently seeing,” he said. At some point, the cost of doing this could become too high. Then you need a plan B.
Greminger spoke of “theoretical compromise possibilities”. The temporary assignment of occupied territories to Russia would be conceivable. As soon as a new Russian government were in power, the return could be negotiated. In the end, he says, it will boil down to the question: “Do you want a very long, very expensive war – or an end to the conflict, even if it is unsatisfactory?
Keystone/SDA©
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